By Tami Abdollah
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Heleine Tchayou was home in Boston when she saw on the news cellphone video of a mentally ill homeless man killed on Skid Row by Los Angeles police. She exclaimed to a friend and her son-in-law about how horrible it was. It wasn’t until days later that she learned the man who died was her son, Charly Keunang.
Tchayou and her daughter recently announced the family is filing a $20 million claim against the city.
Speaking in French at a news conference late last week in front of the Los Angeles Police Department’s headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, Tchayou called the death of her only son preventable.
“He has left, he has left forever,” she said through tears. “Those images won’t leave my mind ... it won’t leave my mind.”
The claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, filed by Keunang’s parents and sister says officers initiated the struggle that ended with the 43-year-old Keunang’s death on March 1.
Attorney Dan Stormer called the incident “despicable” and likened it to other deaths of unarmed black men around the country.
“He was doing nothing, he was on the streets, he was bothering no one,” Stormer said. “They’re the ones that began the process. They’re the ones that initiated force.”
Officers who were responding to a robbery report said he became combative, made a grab for the gun of a rookie policeman and was shot by three other officers. The shooting was captured on video and prompted several protests.
The officers involved have been placed on paid leave during the investigation.
City officials would not comment on pending litigation, said city attorney’s office spokesman Frank Mateljan.
Stormer said only the rookie officer went for his gun initially and ended up on top of Keunang, ultimately resulting in Keunang (keh-NAYNG’) being shot six times, including four times in the chest.
“This is a cop created killing, it is something that should have never happened,” Stormer said.
The family has asked the district attorney’s office for a thorough criminal investigation, and they are trying to get footage from body cameras worn by two officers during the incident, although so far their attorney said the department will not release it.
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